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Cisco MDS Series vs Dell PowerStore comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco MDS Series
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
3rd
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell PowerStore
Ranking in Enterprise SAN
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
129
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (4th), NAS (1st), All-Flash Storage (1st), NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Enterprise SAN category, the mindshare of Cisco MDS Series is 5.5%, down from 20.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerStore is 31.0%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise SAN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell PowerStore31.0%
Cisco MDS Series5.5%
Other63.5%
Enterprise SAN
 

Featured Reviews

OğuzKalaycı - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures consistent availability during updates and integrates seamlessly
I am using Cisco MDS in SAN environments for storage connections and server connections The product is very stable and performs well. During the update periods, the devices do not need to reload, ensuring constant availability. It is easy to set up and use. I do not have a central management…
Eoin O’Brien - PeerSpot reviewer
Improves cost efficiency and significantly while boosting workload performance
We have realized several benefits from using Dell PowerStore; we migrated to the current Dell PowerStore models from tiered storage, and now we're using all flash. The dedupe and compression has been a big benefit for us versus the old storage that it was running, and we've seen the performance of all flash for our storage services. My company finds particular features within Dell PowerStore valuable, primarily the cost benefits for the performance that we get out of the platform. We've definitely seen the benefit on that side of it, including the cost per terabyte, and the support from Dell has been excellent as well. We haven't had any issues with it, so it's been very reliable as a platform for us. The performance metrics I use to measure success with Dell PowerStore are all IOPS and throughput. We are not using it with AI workloads on Dell PowerStore, so it's primarily just customers running IaaS, however, it is important that it's reliable and performs well, and we get that from Dell PowerStore. Dell PowerStore has supported growth and operational success for my business; a key driver at the moment is consolidation, and the dedupe and compression ratios allow us to standardize on a single platform. This has helped improve our operational metrics and overall operations, as we now have only one vendor to support and one set of storage arrays to manage. We have a very clear path into support and escalation if there is an issue, and we are not dealing with multiple vendors.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The features I found most valuable are the ease of deployment, it's easy to upgrade, easy to configure and easy to administer. There is no need for vendor professional services which saves project cost. The usage of WebUI for all primary features like hostname, IP address, SNMP traps, zone sets, addition and deletion of zone members or zone sets, backup of switch DB is very simple."
"The product is very stable and performs well."
"The product is easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is its reliability, support, and scalability."
"The issues with these switches are extremely rare, and the whole product line is very predictable and stable."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco MDS Series is security."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the devices, databases, and zoning."
"SAN switches in Cisco MDS Series are a valuable feature of the solution for our company."
"Dell PowerStore has good value for money and some scalability features that are better than other products."
"The biggest improvement we found when moving into Dell PowerStore was the deduplication and compression."
"Has a great mapping feature."
"It's really good, price-wise. It's cost-effective."
"We used Cloud IQ. The central management and outside support functionality were great since we had systems all over the world."
"With Dell PowerStore, we're getting close to 200,000 IOPS, which has doubled our performance."
"The software upgrades are all included for no additional charge."
"My company found the tool to be really easy to use, expand, and manage."
 

Cons

"Cisco MDS Series can improve by having API functionality for automation and programming."
"I do not have a central management software to manage these products due to the licensing cost. It would be beneficial to have central management software for easier handling."
"The GUI client is Java-based and we know that Java is not secure, so everyone disables it."
"The licensing model could be less complicated."
"It is quite a stable product. It should be shipped with the latest firmware to avoid download and upload schema at the beginning of the initial setup. There should also be the possibility of downgrading the firmware when required. WebUI needs DCNM instead a web-based GUI should be made available like Brocade san switch."
"Cisco MDS Series could improve by adding more gigahertz. However, they are doing this over time."
"The product is very expensive."
"The solution's management interface and GUI need improvement."
"I had specific troubles with vulnerabilities in Dell PowerStore. There are many vulnerabilities that we cannot mitigate related to the administration interface."
"It could be improved to be cheaper for us. Cost versus performance is crucial, and it has to have the performance and capabilities that we need for that price point."
"The UI should be a little more user-friendly to manage."
"They could improve the upgrade process. Currently, there are many manual steps required before upgrading the firmware."
"Dell PowerStore does not meet the needs of a small organization; Dell has Unity which meets the entry-level or SMB segment."
"The support is not very good."
"Improvements could be made in the replication solutions of Dell PowerStore. Even though replication between Dell PowerStores is possible, high latency connectivity is problematic."
"Some of the data metrics we get out of Pure from a support perspective online are a little bit more robust than the Dell PowerStore metrics, but it's not a negative against Dell."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the Cisco MDS Series is high."
"It's perpetual licensing and maintenance is a recurrent cost."
"Pricing cannot be considered an advantageous trait of the solution since it is expensive. I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"The price of Dell EMC PowerStore could be better, it is a bit expensive."
"Dell PowerStore is affordable and the license is just a face license which is great."
"We purchased it with a five-year warranty."
"In the pricing and licensing department, the product is always too expensive."
"With compression, we were able to have a solution within our company's budget. We include a clause in the contract with Dell that states if the compression ratio is not met, we will adjust the workload accordingly."
"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."
"The pricing structure and licensing model of Dell PowerStore are very good and I like it. We chose it because it was reasonably priced and met our requirements"
"The pricing structure and licensing model of Dell PowerStore are pretty decent. It's pretty competitive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise27
Large Enterprise61
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco MDS Series?
The pricing could be improved as the solution is very expensive. I am on a yearly payment basis.
What needs improvement with Cisco MDS Series?
I do not have a central management software to manage these products due to the licensing cost. It would be beneficial to have central management software for easier handling.
What do you think about Dell EMC PowerStore? Is it actually a new product?
PowerStore is flexible, scalable, simple, and performant with market-leading economics for a wide range of legacy and next-gen apps. It is only Flash and can support many workloads from today's app...
How does Dell's EMC PowerStore compare with its EMC Unity XT?
Dell EMC PowerStore is a unified storage platform that has the added benefit of being scalable. The automated management of resources feature provides a more simple administration. I found the flex...
What's the difference between DELL EMC Powerstore and Powermax NVMe?
Dell PowerStore is an all-solid-state midrange storage system. It has many internal elements taken from other Dell offerings and integrated into the PowerStoreOS. The installation and setup have a ...
 

Also Known As

Cisco MDS 9100, Cisco MDS 9222i, Cisco MDS 9700
PowerStore
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

National Rugby League
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Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco MDS Series vs. Dell PowerStore and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.